2020-12-08 21:59 update: 2020-12-09, 17:44
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Photo: PAP / Andrzej Lange
The policies of Poland and Hungary concerning the rule of law requirement in the next EU budget are completely in line, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a Polish TV broadcaster and a web portal on Tuesday.
Orban arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday for another round of talks with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Poland's ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is also a deputy prime minister. Both countries oppose a rule of law requirement that is tied to the draft EU budget. The clause makes the budget payouts dependent on how a country fares in the rule of law criteria.
Speaking to private TV channel Polsat News and the Interia.pl portal, Orban said aligning Poland's and Hungary's policies was very easy.
"It is in the best interests of Poland and Hungary to defend our stance. Secondly, Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski was right to push through his stance, and thirdly, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (...) was able to prepare the right manoeuvre to arrive at the right stance that we have achieved just now," Orban said.
"The policies of Hungary and Poland are now completely in line. We must defend the EU treaty, we must defend our national interests, we must defend the financial resources that are owed to our countries, and we have arranged just how to do it," he added.
Orban also said that, in his opinion, there was a chance to close budget talks this week, during the EU summit on Thursday. He made the statement when asked whether it would be possible to reach an agreement regarding the next multi-year EU budget during the forthcoming summit.
Having repeated that there was a chance to close this matter during the summit meeting Thursday, Orban said that, however, there were no guarantees but added that "we are an inch away" from this.
Orban also stated that Poland and Hungary were a single Polish-Hungarian bloc and expressed his conviction that an agreement could be reached, saying that this would be a huge success.
The EU is at loggerheads with Poland and Hungary over a mechanism in the next seven-year budget linking funding to respect for the rule of law. The two Central European states, both accused by Brussels of undermining the rule of law, oppose the mechanism, claiming it breaks EU treaties, and have threatened to veto the budget because of it.
A European Council summit is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. (PAP)
